Zohran Mamdani and Rama Duwaji are the first couple of New York. In November 2025, Mamdani, a 34-year-old, made history as the first Africa-born, Muslim and Asian-American mayor of New York City, America's financial capital.
At 28, Duwaji is an illustrator and animator who has worked with prestigious names in the industry such as The New Yorker, Vogue and The Cut. But one would be a complete fool to think of her as just an artist, the Gen Z icon has had an impactful influence and role in her husband's win as the Mayor of New York. From his fashion cues to his ideologies, Mamdani seems to filter them all through his better half.
Sadly, no matter how intrigued the world might be with her, Duwaji has been notoriously private about herself, until now. The artist just gave her first interview as the first lady of New York to The Cut, revealing some interesting and inspirational aspects of her life.
The 9/11 affect
In one of the segments of the conversation with the outlet, Duwaji was talking about her childhood. Born in 1997 to parents of Syrian descent in Houston, Texas, she described herself as a third-culture kid. Her family moved to New York and then New Jersey and she lived on a cul-de-sac, rode bikes and had "beef" with the neighbourhood boys.
She shared that she was a kindergartner in New York in 2001, when the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre Towers took place. It was then she quickly discovered the depths of Islamophobic bigotry, like many Muslim Americans her age.
“I grew up hearing all about what my parents experienced,” she said to the outlet. “My mom is a hijabi. My dad had to shave his beard,” she added.
It was soon after, that her family moved to Dubai in 2007 when she was 9. Her mother, a paediatrician, accepted a job at the American Hospital there and her father worked as a software developer.
"I did romanticise America in my head because I had loved it when I was younger. I never fully felt like Dubai was home — because I had known New York and New Jersey when I was younger — but it was a very safe and quiet way to grow up, especially back in those days,” she added.
"Everything is political": Rama Duwaji
Elsewhere in the interview, Duwaji talked about how she has been an active voice for Palestine through her fashion choices and keeps up to date with the events there and all around the world.
She shared how she always saw clothing as an extension of her art and politics. “It’s nice to have a little bit of analysis on the clothes because, for instance, during the general-election night, it was nice to send a message about Palestinians by wearing a Palestinian designer,” she explained. For the election result, Duwaji donned a black top with designer Zeid Hijazi and a skirt by New York designer Ulla Johnson.
“Speaking out about Palestine, Syria, Sudan — all these things are really important to me,” she added. “I’m always keeping up to date with what’s going on, not just here but elsewhere. It feels fake to talk about anything else when that’s all that’s on my mind, all I want to put down on paper,” explained the artist whose social media feed is a silent but bold expression of her feelings on the events.
“Everything is political; it’s the thing that I talk about with Z,” shared the illustrator.
Will her responsibilities as the first lady derail her artistic pursuits? Of that Duwaji is clear, they won't. “I have so much work that I have planned out, down to the dimensions and the colours that I’m going to use and materials,” she said. “Some of that has been slightly put on hold, but I’m absolutely going to be focused on being a working artist. I’m definitely not stopping that. Come January, it’s something that I want to continue to do.”
As a Muslim-American of Syrian descent living in New York and being the wife of the mayor of the financial hub, Duwaji has just the perfect spot to voice out all the concerns she thinks need to be heard. In fact, unlike her outspoken husband, she has done it all in the interview itself, elegantly and boldly, in her classic style.